There’s nothing better than when people talk about the things they love. It doesn’t matter if you understand a thing about their “thing,” because just seeing their faces light up is the point. You can literally watch someone drop a protective layer when they talk about their favorite hobby, artist, or experience. For me, it’s rejuvenating just to listen to them – and I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything myself. The lazy art lover’s way of enjoying creativity at play.
I learned this first in college, where one of my friends was head over heels in love with solar car racing. He spent days on end with his team, tinkering, creating, imagining new options. I never once, in all of our conversations, understood what was really happening. But the energy was like viral serotonin, dripping into my psyche and motivating me to work on my own thing.
Recently, I started reading about BOB. BOB is Pamela Paul’s Book of Books — a journal she’s kept of all the books she’s read since she was 17. My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues is her best-selling book about BOB. I haven’t even gotten through the first chapter, but the introduction itself left a mark for me. Paul waxes poetic about books — what they have meant to her, how they have marked key points in her life and concurrently shaped those same milestones. This New York Times Book Review editor manages to put into words what books have meant to her. Regardless of the ensuing plot that her book’s title promises, this homage to reading was worth it all on its own.
As we struggle through tough times, it strikes me that we should spend more time talking about the things we love. Not just doing or partaking in the things we love, but telling others why we love those things, trying to put the magic into words and share.
Sharing our joy will take us far right now. And it doesn’t require that we take days off, or have extra spending cash, or have access to a fancy exhibition or concert. To talk about what we love, all we need is some time and a listening partner. The listener might even benefit more from the experience than the sharer.
No matter how nutty your passion may seem (the nutty passions are the most fun!), please share the things you love. There is so much beauty in this world, and so much that we each don’t get to see. Let’s make sure that we celebrate the things that make us happiest, and give the gift of listening.
It sure as hell beats another hour of CNN. And who knows, you might just discover something new to love.
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